MARIA DUARTE, JAMES WALSH and ANDY HEDGECOCK review The Invite, My Father’s Island, Nirvanna: the Band, the Show, the Movie, and Oh My Goodness!
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Four poems by David Cooke
Edited by JODY PORTER
PAUL DONOVAN is chilled by the contemporary resonance of Harper Lee’s coming of age tale amidst racism and white supremacy in this excellent production
GEOFF BOTTOMS recommends the unashamedly light-hearted escapism on offer in this stage version of the 1963 film
Full of mysterious religious references and radical sound design, the Scottish duo’s new offering is candidate for album of the year, suggests SIMON DUFF
MARY CONWAY revels in a powerful reminder that human lives are not defined by physical perfection
PAUL DONOVAN recommends the fine performances in this account of the pre-war meeting between the US president and the British king
TECLYN AROD relishes an intimate celebration of jazz improvisation that mixes local and national musicians
Four poems by David Cooke
Washing
Home again each month like a stranger,
he has three days’ turnaround
between trips for you to wash
his gear – which leaves you
barely two when, on his final day,
you’d rinse off his luck.
So let him mooch with mates,
while you heat the copper and soak
his long johns, socks and ganseys
in that soup of frothing water,
teasing fibres matted
with blood, scales, spatter.
And when you’ve sluiced
and sluiced the greasy suds away,
lift the dripping weight of wool
that you will wring to dankness
and then force down
your mangle’s tight-lipped throat.
If weather’s bad, God help us!
as once again you pray for days
of providential breezes –
for though he never says,
you know he’ll love that freshness:
its yielding warmth, its laundered smell.
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PETER MASON thrills to the sound of south London-born Yussef Dayes, and the galaxy of musicians drawn into his orbit
ANDY CROFT welcomes the publication of an anthology of recent poems published by the Morning Star, and hopes it becomes an annual event
MATTHEW HAWKINS recommends three memorable performances from Scottish dance artists Barrowland Ballet, In the Fields Project, and Wendy Houston
by Josie Giles